title: High-performance bioassisted nanophotocatalyst for hydrogen production.
abstract: Nanophotocatalysis is one of the potentially efficient ways of capturing and storing solar energy. Biological energy systems that are intrinsically nanoscaled can be employed as building blocks for engineering nanobio-photocatalysts with tunable properties. Here, we report upon the application of light harvesting proton pump bacteriorhodopsin (bR) assembled on Pt/TiO2 nanocatalyst for visible light-driven hydrogen generation. The hybrid system produces 5275 μmole of H2 (μmole protein)(-1) h(-1) at pH 7 in the presence of methanol as a sacrificial electron donor under white light. Photoelectrochemical and transient absorption studies indicate efficient charge transfer between bR protein molecules and TiO2 nanoparticles.
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory , Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Shankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balasubramanian
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Schaller
authors.forename: Tijana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rajh
authors.forename: Elena A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Rozhkova